GRACE AND GLORY

One of my few good habits is to read Charles Spurgeon’s classical daily devotional book, “Morning and Evening.” Wednesday evening’s message struck a note I want to share with you.

Quoting part of Psalm 84:11, in which God’s Word declares, “the Lord gives grace and glory,” Spurgeon simply unpacked this brief phrase. Let me try to follow the example of the “prince of preachers.”

Note first that the Lord gives. His generosity is extravagant. There is nothing good in all the world that He has not given. The Apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). In other words, every moment of laughter you have ever enjoyed, each morsel of food, every hug, every kind thought, and all the blessings of friendship and family, have issued, each and all, from the generous heart of God. There is nothing good in all of life that did not originate with God.

It is, in fact, the very nature of God to give. In Himself, He is so completely satisfied and overflowing, that God would have to stop being God in order to stop giving.

Chief among God’s gifts is grace. If it weren’t for His grace, not a soul could survive the withering fury of His righteous wrath. It is grace that sent Christ to earth to live a holy life in fulfillment of God’s righteous requirements. It was grace that moved the Father to place upon His Son all His holy wrath for your sins. It was grace that taught you to see your need of a Savior and place your faith in Christ. By His grace God draws to Himself His insurgent creatures, not to make them His slaves, but to bring them into His family and re-create in them His image which they previously rejected by their aggravated rebellion.

It is the everlasting steadiness of God’s grace that gives His children a resilience which marks them with the family resemblance. Whether the economy is booming or busting, He gives grace. Whether you are well or ill, He gives grace. In both plenty and want, He gives grace. In living and in dying, He gives all the grace required for both. Indeed, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

With grace comes glory. Mark that little conjunction, “and,” which Spurgeon called “a diamond rivet binding the present with the future.” The gift of grace is God’s guarantee that those who receive it will surely spend eternity with Him in the glory of His presence. If we live in His grace, we will certainly die in His grace, and in His grace enter into the fullness of His glory. The Apostle John declared that there in the city of God, there is “no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light” (Revelation 21:23).

So, believer, are you living by the grace of God into the glory of God? If not, you’re living below your privilege. Step up into His grace and glory!

What Is the Church?

We see them all around town: buildings with signs out front that have the name of a church on them. It’s quite common, and partly because of that, we rarely think deeply about the nature of the church. So today, get your brain in gear and let’s dig deep.

After being started in the pastor’s house in 1883, the church I pastor has met in three different buildings. The first was built in 1889, where the Post Office now stands. The second is now the home of Delgado’s Dugout. The current structure was erected in 1969. Yet, none of these buildings, nor any of the other similar edifices in town, should be called a “church.” “Church-building,” “meeting-house,” and even “gathering-place” are good terms for these facilities. A “church,” however, is not made of brick, stones and wood, but of people.

The word “church” is used in English-language Bibles to translate the New Testament Greek term “ekklesia.” (The New Testament was originally written in Greek.) This word is used 112 times in the New Testament to refer to the body of Christ.

Some background on the term helps us understand what the church is. “Ekklesia” literally means “called out ones,” or “chosen ones.” In secular society during New Testament times, “ekklesia” was used for the gathered body of those chosen by the people to be their leaders: in other words, the assembly of the called out and chosen ones.

Since Christians are those who are chosen by God (1 Peter 2:9), called out by Him (1 Corinthians 1:9), and commanded to assemble regularly (Hebrews 10:24-25), it made sense for Christians to be called the “ekklesia:” those chosen by God and gathered by God.

The church, of course, did not start in a vacuum. Early Christians were mostly Jews, who met weekly or more often in “synagogues,” a term that simply means “congregation” or “gathering place.” The early church developed most of its forms and government from the practices of the synagogue, practices in which Jesus Himself readily participated throughout His life and ministry.

In the New Testament, “ekklesia” is used 18 times to mean the universal church: everyone, everywhere who has ever been saved. But it’s used most often – 94 times, to be precise – to mean a local band of folks committed to one another, meeting weekly or more often to worship and pray; to make disciples and evangelize the lost; and to share each other’s lives in fellowship and service.

And the point of all this? Let me quote the old children’s song:

The church is not a building.

The church is not a steeple.

The church is not a resting place.

The church is the people.

Christians ARE the church. If you are saved, you are united with all Christians everywhere. That mystical union finds its functional expression in a local body of believers committed to Christ and one another. Something extraordinary happens when that group gathers in His name: Jesus shows up in a way He won’t at any other time. And that’s beautiful!

So, go be with the church this Sunday! Jesus will be meeting with His people! Don’t miss the gathering. It’s great!

Where Is Your Confidence?

“ . . . as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by Whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 1:7b-9

I think this is becoming my new favorite passage of Scripture, in no small measure because of its context. The Apostle Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote these promising words to a church the likes of which I’ve never seen – and, I hope, never will see.

By all accounts, the church in Corinth was a mess. And yet, Paul begins his letter to this mess of a church by expressing his overt confidence in their sanctification.

I’m not sure I could have been so confident. Consider the condition of this church.

At least four rival factions were vying for power. One of the church leaders was sleeping with his mother-in-law, and the church didn’t seem to find that inappropriate. Church members were getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper. Members of the church were involved in suits against each other. Abuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was common. The church was so much like the perverse society of the Corinthian community that it was hard to distinguish Christians from pagans. Indeed, it was so bad that Paul offered his inspired assessment that their “worship services do more harm than good” (1 Corinthians 11:17).

It was to such a church that Paul wrote with a solid assurance that their future was bright, and their sanctification certain. How could he be so sure?

Look at the first few words of verse 9: “God is faithful, by Whom you were called.” Paul knew that God had started the Corinthian church, and that He was determined to finish what He had begun. God is faithful. He was looking to the faithfulness of God.

To whom do we look?

Paul also understood something of the call of God. The God Who is faithful had summoned these former pagans to Himself. He initiated the relationship with them by virtue of His prior choice; and He initiated a relationship with us in precisely the same miraculous manner. Our response to God’s call was preceded by the call itself: before we considered coming to Him, He called us to Himself.

And because He called us, how can our hearts do anything but burst with uncontrollable gratitude? Let us not entertain the vain notion that we deserved His call, or that we earned His favor. He is holy and righteous, inapproachable in the fire of His zealous perfection; and yet the miracle of grace is seen in this wonder: He called us.

That’s why Paul could be confident about the church at Corinth: the God Who is faithful called them. When you think of your church, your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and even your own walk with the Lord, where is your confidence?

The Wonder of It All

When her mother came to pick her up one day at the close of that morning’s Vacation Bible School, she took Mommy’s hand and led her into the big meeting room. With wide eyes and a quiet kind of awe in her four-year-old voice, she said “This is where the music is.”

Then she escorted Mommy all around the room. There was the puppet stage where Nick and Cooper, Stan and Alex helped us learn what love is. Then there were the props and plants, along with the big umbrella, the hammock and the grill, that comprised our attempt to turn the sanctuary into “God’s big backyard.”

“Look, Mommy!” she said, as she pointed at each picture or prop.

“Look!”

And, though she wasn’t speaking to me, I too began to look. And to see.

During much of our preparation for Vacation Bible School, I could think of little else except how much work our volunteers were putting in. But then, as the third day of our week-long adventure drew to a close, God gave me a glimpse of the whole endeavor through the eyes of a four-year-old. Suddenly, the wonder was there, as it should have been all along.

The wonder is not simply that a group of busy adults would spend more than a hundred hours decorating a church building for a VBS program. The wonder is not only that many of them worked for weeks preparing crafts, lessons and Bible stories to tell the children. The wonder is not merely in the work of baking hundreds of cookies and sandwiches for Friday’s lunch and program, nor only in the uncounted sacrifices made by so many to make Vacation Bible School as successful as possible. Amazingly, this kind of supreme effort commonly takes place, in churches throughout this community, many times over every summer.

But the greatest wonder is not in the effort or the program.

The wonder is what lies behind all the work: hearts touched by God, full of His love, and gripped by a passion to share His love and let the little children come to Him, no matter how much work it takes.

The height and depth and length and breadth of the wonder is in the outpoured love of God seen in His Son dying on the cross for wide-eyed four-year-olds and weary middle-aged pastors alike. The wonder is the fact that He loved His rebellious creation so much that He came and lived among the rebels themselves, and took the just punishment for their rebellion upon Himself. That, indeed, is the greatest wonder there is.

I remember that when I was just a little child myself, my dad often sang these words made famous by George Beverly Shea. “Oh, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me!”

Indeed.

Just think of it, that wonder-full love of His! Then, like a little child, come to Jesus again, and thank Him for how much He loves you. It’s a wonder!

I LOVE YOU, JESUS!

Last Wednesday morning, I stood next to my son and daughter-in-law, and gazed in wonder at the eight-pound miracle she had just brought into this world. Perfect in every way, and without question the most lovely grand-daughter ever born, little Katie tugged instantly at my heart. I longed to hold her, or rather, to be held by her, enthralled by her perilous beauty.

Later, as I held her and memorized her features, I thought of another little girl with the same name. Let me tell you that story.

When my wife and I were also just a couple of kids, she gave birth to twins, quite prematurely. Both were too small to live; but, wanting to acknowledge the reality of their personhood before God, we named them: Aaron Vaughn and Katherine Elizabeth. Both died within a day of their July 3 birthday.

Fast forward twenty-eight years to last spring. Our son and daughter-in-law had been to her doctor, and the ultrasound indicated she was carrying a girl, due in early July. A few days later, the two of them came to our home with a query. They wanted to know if it would be okay to name their daughter Katherine Elizabeth. They also want to add the name Grace, the middle name of our twenty-six year old.

With tears in our eyes, we gladly told them that would be a perfect way of redeeming the old scars in our hearts. More amazing still, their Katie was due around the same time our Katie had been born and died. So, God was determined to change even the memories of our loss that are evoked each summer by this season of fireworks.

All of that was whirling through my mind on Wednesday morning as I sat there holding this little grand-miracle in my arms, recounting the ways in which God had wondrously finalized the healing of an old pain. Then my wife slipped her arm into mine, and pulled me from one reverie into another. “Isn’t she beautiful?” she said.

“Oh, yes,” I replied.

“You know,” she continued, “Jesus came into the world in just the same way!”

“Amazing! It’s really just amazing,” I said, and the tears began to flow fresh.

He could have entered the world as an adult, you know, or ridden suddenly down from on high before the vanguard of heaven’s armies. He could have simply materialized one day in the temple, preaching the Truth, proclaiming the Gospel and demanding by virtue of His spectacular appearing the sudden loyalty of all who beheld Him.

But He chose a more common way, a more humble path to take into this world of rebels. He came in such a way as to claim not only your allegiance but also your heart.

Has He come to you? Remember then, how He enthralled you, drew you and claimed your heart. If it’s been a while, that’s all the more reason to turn to Him now and tell Him, “O Jesus, thank You for loving me and capturing my heart. I love You, Jesus!”

THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

God has a very different value system than that which the world has.

In the early 1950’s, Jim and his young wife Beth set off for the mission field in South America. A brilliant linguist and scholar, Jim’s heart was to translate the scriptures into new languages and share the Gospel with unreached people groups. They lived in a small house near a remote river, with just a few other missionaries. After making significant progress learning the languages of the natives, they made a few halting efforts at sharing the Gospel. On their first overnight visit in one of the native villages, Jim and four of his missionary partners were brutally murdered by a group of ten Huaorani men. Jim was only 28 years old at the time of his death.

Many people would call the deaths of Jim Elliot and his young friends a tragedy, the waste of five good lives. But, that is not what God calls it.

Let me tell you about the tragedy of wasted lives.

Brian and Keesha (not their real names) pursued life in the financial fast lane for the first several years of their marriage. With fierce determination, they bought and sold, invested and saved, and for them, everything paid off. Before age 40, they had acquired enough cash and property to retire quite well. They made the Caribbean their home base, and started traveling the world. Most of their time is spent lounging on the beaches at their various oceanfront resort properties. In the moments when they’re not living the good life, they still run a business via the internet dedicated to teaching others how to get rich and retire early just like they did.

Now, THAT’S tragic!

On the one hand, consider five young men willing to “spend and be spent” (2 Corinthians 12:15) in joyfully rescuing people from hell as they display Christ for the eternal Treasure that He truly is. On the other hand, here’s a couple for whom the ultimate in success is to do nothing at all with the best years of their lives except teach others – at a handsome profit! – how to do nothing at all with the best years of their lives.

On October 28, 1949, just over six years before Jim Elliot was murdered, he wrote in his journal these amazing words that summarize God’s understanding of true success: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

All around us, even here in Northeast Colorado, are people who are just as much without the Gospel as were those Huaorani who murdered Jim Elliot and his partners. He was willing to risk everything for the sake of their souls. What are you risking for the sake of your neighbors who don’t know Jesus?

You don’t have to go far to be a missionary. Indeed, the mission field is all around you. What are you doing with the rest of your life?

The Dearest Place on Earth

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks, but I actually had some vacation! Anyway, now that I'm back, here is this week's piece. It's about the church, as you can tell.

What’s the best day of the week? Monday, when many folks go back to work? Probably not. How about Friday, when the work week draws to a close for many and the weekend begins? More people would probably say Friday is the best day of the week than Monday.

I wonder how many would say Sunday is the best day of the week.

Just this morning I had a conversation with a member of the church I am blessed to serve, the topic of which was “the weekend.” She lamented how much time Americans waste through the week wishing the weekend would come. Somehow we have come to misunderstand Saturday and Sunday as the days that belong to us for us to do with what we will.

I got to thinking about what Sunday should mean in the life of every Christian. Saturday is the day to get ready for Sunday, to make our emotional, spiritual and physical preparations for the following morning. Way back in college days, before I was pastor, my friend and mentor Bill Mowrey told me, “John, a good Sunday morning begins with a proper Saturday evening.”

What Bill was trying to get across is that Sunday is too important for Christians to let the day simply sneak up on us. We need to prepare our hearts to receive God’s Word, just as surely as the pastor needs to prepare the message to impart God’s Word.

Sunday is the day set apart for the gathering of God’s people to worship Him, hear from Him, and encourage one another by our love. It’s the day to celebrate the mutual miracle of our salvation. It’s homecoming day. It’s family reunion time, when we see again the folks we’re related to by the blood of Christ. It’s the day we are blessed to rejoin with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and rejoice in the manifold evidences of grace we see in the family.

Evidences of grace like these. Last Sunday I saw a new widow praising God exuberantly as we sang to Him, “Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down.” I saw a middle aged couple who had brought a young husband and wife to worship with them. I watched a college student hug an octogenarian. These were just three of the many dozens of such evidences of grace I saw last Sunday. And I’ll see dozens more day after tomorrow! And so will you, if you go to church with your eyes open.

Nineteenth century British pastor Charles Spurgeon called the church “the dearest place on earth.” I am convinced from scripture and experience that he was right. That’s where God gathers His family under the banner of His love, and shows them the evidences of His grace.

When you go to church this Sunday, will you be looking for evidences of God’s grace? If so, you will discover what Spurgeon said is true: it is, indeed, the dearest place on earth.

Joy and the Excellence of Christ

The most gloriously joy-filled being in the entire universe is Jesus Christ.

To live your life in a radical quest to reflect His glory and experience His joy is the most satisfying endeavor a human being can pursue. Everything else pales in comparison. There is no joy to be found anywhere else under the sun like the joy that comes from the excellence of Christ.

The prophet Isaiah knew this to be true, and wrote this word from the Lord: “Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to Me . . . and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (Isaiah 55:2). Solomon, wise in the ways of the world as he was, knew this also, and he wrote, “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

So while there is no abiding joy to be found in things “under the sun” (as Solomon put it), there is supreme joy in Christ. And the good news is that Christ Himself wants His people to participate in this joy! On the evening before His crucifixion, Jesus said to His Father, “But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13).

Did you catch that? Jesus wants HIS joy to be fulfilled in YOU! Amazing! Miraculous! The Son of God, Who from eternity past has dwelt with the Father and the Spirit in the holy inferno of the glory and joy of the three-in-one Godhead, passionately yearns to fill you with His joy! As Alexander Means wrote in his ecstatic hymn, “What wondrous love is this, O my soul!” Yes, indeed. Wondrous and full of joy!

And people think Christianity means weighty obligation! Where do they get such an erroneous idea? They get it from Christians who have never learned or have forgotten that “in [His] presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). They get it from believers who wrongly suppose that their “Christian duty” is unrewarded religious responsibility.

In his “Letters to Malcolm,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “It is the duty of every Christian, you know, to be as happy as possible.” That is what our “duty” is: to be so impassioned with Christ that His infinite delight floods our souls with the overflow of His boundless joy. This boundless joy, this ocean of Christ’s excellence, is what delivers us from the perilous weight of religious obligation, and turns the “got to” of duty into the “get to” of delight.

King David, after being confronted with his sin of seeking His delight outside of the Lord, prayed, “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). All of us should pray that prayer who have been seeking joy anywhere but in the infinite excellencies of Christ Himself. Let us pray it, now.

Joy and Certainty

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot, and praying some, over that little verse in Philippians 1 in which the Apostle Paul so beautifully expressed his confidence regarding the future of the Philippian church. He wrote, “I am sure of this, that He Who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

That’s pretty remarkable assurance coming from a guy who was in jail! You might also wish to note that this little letter to the church Paul had founded at Philippi has more references to joy than any other book in the Bible. I believe that Paul’s substantial confidence and Paul’s overt joy went hand-in-hand. Let’s take a look at this. How could Paul be so certain?

If you examine verse 6, you’ll note that Paul’s certainty regarding the church’s future was founded upon the church’s past. Who started the church? Was it Paul, or the Philippians themselves? No! God began the work. And Paul knew that what God began, God will finish, even if it takes until Jesus comes back. Thus, Paul was filled with joy in anticipation of God’s exercising His sovereign greatness to complete His work – HIS work, mind you! – for His glory. The fact that Paul was in jail didn’t seem to distract him from this assurance, because, as he wrote to another church, “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

What has God begun in your life? Did He at some point in your life grant you faith to trust the atoning sacrifice of His Son as the means and guarantee of your salvation? Then He has begun a good work in you, just like He did among the Philippians. So, since that beginning was made in you by God Himself, have you misplaced your confidence?

Honestly, I find the temptations to misplace my confidence are many and varied, and pressing upon us almost daily. That great whisperer of lies, the devil, is determined to distract us and sway our vision from the glory and grace of God. “Trust your common sense,” he murmurs to our worrying hearts. “Rely on your training or your background, your experience or your expertise,” he blithely chatters on, not perhaps in so many words, but in a kind of unformed doubt that creeps into the dark recesses of our fearful hearts.

Believers, let us banish the lies of hell to their source! God’s truth is the source of our certainty, and nothing else will suffice. Has God begun a good work in you? Then, regardless of the circumstances in which you find yourself, He will bring it to completion. And the joy you have will be determined in great measure by how fully you believe Him and how willingly you submit to Him and cooperate with His ongoing work in you.

Next week: Joy and the Excellence of Christ

Out of Complaining Into Joy

My friend since seminary days, the Reverend Dr. Tom Steagald, is a pastor in North Carolina and the author of a couple of books on personal sanctification and prayer. He and I have been engaged in an intermittent email conversation for the last few weeks on this topic of joy. In a recent pastor’s letter to his congregation, Dr. Tom wrote the following.

“Joy comes from knowing we are saved. Salvation accompanies the knowledge that we are indeed forgiven. But to know that we are forgiven suggests a prior knowledge: that we are sinners, that we are not what God wants us to be, that we fail to do what God wants us to do and instead often do what God prohibits.

“Sadly, somewhere along the line someone convinced us that we were not sinners at all — that we do not need change, but instead only understanding, acceptance and affirmation.”

Truer words were never spoken, Brother Tom! As long as we view Christianity as a therapeutic source of understanding and affirmation, we will remain untransformed, and the joy of the Lord will remain a distant hope, reserved perhaps for heaven, but generally unavailable until then. And so, we muddle through, grumbling as we go, striving to remain faithful to this unhappy hope we have.

But what a contrast is this watered down version of Christianity with the robust, indefatigable joy of the early church! That group of societal underlings conquered the world with nothing but the love of Christ and the joy of the Lord. And God is still the same today. He is as full of joy today as he was when King David wrote, “In His presence there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). Christ is as willing to impart joy to you today as He was when He said on the night before His crucifixion, “These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

So, how do we access that joy? Never diminish the miracle of salvation. Never degrade the incarnation of Christ to a therapeutic mission trip. Never reduce the cross to a means to make you rich and healthy. The finished work of Christ is so much more than that! So! Much! More! Remember the miracle of your salvation.

Or, as Dr. Tom put it, “Joy comes from knowing we are saved.”

So, I ask you: do you know you are saved? Let’s review the Gospel.

God is holy, and in His presence no sin can abide. People, however, are sinners, both by birth and behavior. That means we’ve got a problem, just as we are. So God, Who is holy, made His Son to bear His wrath upon our sin, so that we could be forgiven by repenting of our self will and trusting His Son’s death and resurrection to save us.

As you contemplate and trust this Gospel, joy comes. And then you will able to agree with our North Carolina brother: “Yes, indeed, joy comes from knowing I am saved.”

Next week: Joy and Certainty

Complaining: That Joy-Killing Sin

If someone asked you what is the most pervasive sin in the world, what would you say? Anger? Lust? Hatred? Sure, those are surely all high on the “Top Ten Sins” list, but I believe that higher still on the list is the sin of complaining. Indeed, if it’s not in the top spot, it’s certainly number two.

One of the problems with the sin of complaining is that it’s so universal that many among us aren’t even aware that it’s a sin. Everybody complains about stuff all the time. We are so surrounded by complaining that we hardly notice it, unless, of course, the complaints are directed against us.

However, let us not focus only, or even primarily, on what people think of complaining. We need to consider what God thinks about our complaining. It’s clear from passages like Numbers 11 and 14, Psalm 78 and 1 Corinthians 10, that God is not indifferent to complaining. He is very serious about it, so much so that He issues His church this command: “Do all things without complaining and contention” (Philippians 2:14).

God knows that complaining is an expression of our pride, and not only pride in general, but more specifically, arrogance against God Himself. Think with me. We Christians believe that God is sovereign: i.e., that in some way He controls our lives. Therefore, since we believe He either causes or allows everything that happens in our lives, complaining about what happens is an expression of our doubting His wisdom.

Puritan Thomas Watson, in a sermon on contentment preached in 1653, said, “Murmuring is no better than mutiny in the heart; it is a rising up against God. . . . The murmurer chargeth God with folly. This is the language, or rather blasphemy of a murmuring spirit: ‘God might have been a wiser and better God’ . . . Our murmuring is the devil's music.”

Do you see the subtle rebellion against God that Watson describes? Complaining is nothing less than demanding from God an explanation that suits our convenience and comfort. It is calling God to account for my expectations of how I think He ought to be and what I think He ought to do. St. Paul hinted at the danger of such an attitude when he wrote, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:20).

A century before Watson, John Calvin wrote, “As soon as God does not send what we have desired, we dispute against Him . . . but from what spirit is this pronounced? From a poisoned heart, as if we said, ‘The thing should have been otherwise.’ . . . It is as if we accused God of being a tyrant or a harebrain.”

Complaining is sin because it disputes the goodness of God and thus maligns His character. St. Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

You will be a more joyful Christian if you learn the secret of being free from complaining. We’ll look at that next Friday. Until then, “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I will say it: rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Next week: Out of Complaining into Joy

Joy Grows Where Gratitude Takes Root

Last week we looked at joy’s foundation in the lives of those who trust Christ. We saw that the primary reason for joy is the astonishing fact of our salvation. Today we’ll begin to examine how joy can grow to permeate all of life. As the title briefly states it, joy grows where gratitude takes root; and, if you’ve been born again, you have a thousand reasons to be thankful. Let me mention just four reasons for living a grateful life, all of which are based upon salvation.

We ought to be thankful to the Lord because of what He has saved us FROM. All of us have sinned, and not by accident. We have actively rebelled against God. By virtue of that, we deserve to be under His wrath in this life, and in hell after we die. But He chose to pour out His wrath upon His own Son, and deliver from hell all those who trust Christ. Thank God!

But that’s not all! We also can live a life of gratitude because what He has saved us TO. He hasn’t simply delivered us from wrath and hell, but He has saved us into a love relationship with Him here, followed by heaven forever. Thank God!

A third reason for being grateful to God is HOW He has saved us. We didn’t do anything to earn our salvation. As Scripture says, we are saved “by grace, through faith;” and even this faith is not something we conjured up, for it too “is a gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9). God saves people by His own initiative, through His own sacrifice, and by His own grace. It’s a gift! Thank God!

Finally, we can live in an unending flow of thankfulness because of WHY God has saved us. Scripture again is clear on this subject: our salvation is entirely for the glory of God. As we occasionally recite at First Baptist, “God saved us by His grace, from His wrath, for His glory.” If you are a Christian, God saved you so that you could display His glory. This means that your life has an eternal meaning that magnificently transcends the temporal and visible realm. You are alive to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

And how do you do that? John Piper, author and preaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, states it most succinctly: “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.” As a Christian, whether you are eating or working, playing or worshiping – indeed, in everything! – make it your aim to be fully satisfied in the presence of God, Who is with you and in you.

Indeed, the most gratifying experience any human being can have is to live in the glory of God; and that is why God saves people. Christians get to live in the glory of God, and for the glory of God. The whole universe can’t contain His glory; but, if you’re born again, you have the astonishing privilege of living in His glory. Thank God!

Next week: Complaining – That Joy-Killing Sin

REASON FOR JOY

Have you ever noticed how glum and somber Christians can become? Without much provocation or cause, we who sing "Joy to the world!" can act as if we'd never heard the song. Sometimes we’re grim and determined, going through life with clenched teeth and a grimace. Occasionally, indeed far too often, we're downright grumpy. This is a tragedy for at least three reasons. First, we’ve got plenty of cause to be joyful: we don't have to grumpy. Second, God commands us to be joyful, and we ought to learn how to obey Him. Third, unjoyful Christians don’t attract non-Christians to Christ.

With this in mind, today I’m starting a series of articles on how Christians can cultivate a lifestyle of real, deeply-grounded joy. I'm not talking about becoming naive or vapid: this isn't a head-in-the-clouds approach to life. Nor am I referring to personality types and dispositions. I'm talking about world-conquering joy, the kind of firmly-rooted approach to life that Christ commanded and the Apostle Paul exemplified. Other than the Lord Jesus Himself, there never has been anyone with more trouble and responsibility than Paul. Yet, he exhibited a profound joy in everything. His letter to the Philippian Christians includes more references to joy than any other document in antiquity, and yet he wrote it from jail!

Think with me. If ever there was a man with ample reason to be grumpy, it was Paul: five times he was whipped; three times he was beaten; he was shipwrecked; he was stoned and left for dead; he was imprisoned several times. Beyond this, he had the concern of all those baby churches that God led him to start. And yet, he had joy. Where did he get it?

More to the point, where can you and I get joy?

The kind of joy Paul had is founded upon the undeserved miracle of salvation. Think with me about how God saves people.

Though God is the absolute King of the universe, and though He created us exclusively for His glory, we have attempted a coup. We've set up as rebels against His reign, and have sought to supplant Him from His rightful Lordship, not only over our own lives, but over all the affairs of human existence. The human theme song of "I Did it My Way" is the marshaling-cry of the rebellion.

Despite this, God grants us each and all His common grace: the occasional pleasures of human relationships, the warmth of family, and the simple delights of food, drink, shelter, work and rest. Indeed, every good gift of human existence is evidence of His common grace to each human being. But there's more.

He loves us, courts us, woos us to Himself. Through creation and the Gospel, He portrays to us both His law for our lives and His love for our souls. And yet, though He draws us by His grace, we have rebuffed His love and stiff-armed His embrace. To these personal insults we have added our willful rejection of His good law, and have tried instead to make humanity the measure of all things. Paul summarized our willful rebellion against God with these words: “although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him” (Romans 1:21). Thus, having renounced both His love and His law, we turned so fully from God that we lost our ability even to seek Him.

And so . . . He sought us! Down the dark alleys of our sin, as we flee from Him, He has pursued us. It’s amazing, but it’s true. Though we deserved to die under aggravated condemnation, He sent His Son to die in our stead, to take upon Himself all the Father’s righteous wrath. Indeed, it pleased the Father to crush Him. By virtue of this unmitigated and indescribable grace, and through His gracious gift of faith, God saves us from the just penalty of our sin and brings us into a state of peace and favor with Himself. Amazingly, by His own act of sacrifice, He has sought His very enemies, and having found them, made them His own dear children. Astounding!

And – here’s the reason for unrestrained joy! – we bring nothing to this transaction. No merit. No credit. No effort. Nothing. He saves us by His own initiative, simply because He wants to. We don’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. It is entirely a gift, motivated by the astonishing fact that He longs for us with an unchanging, unchangeable love.

That’s all the reason we need for joy. Indeed, it’s reason enough!

Next week: Joy Grows Where Gratitude Takes Root

IT'S YOUR MIND

Some time ago, my wife and I were awakened in the middle of the night by a noise. It sounded like someone was trying to get in our front door. The doorknob rattled like someone was trying to turn it, not once, but twice.

We prayed – very quietly! – about what to do, and then with no little amount of apprehension, we got out of bed and started turning on lights. I shouted, “Is anybody there?” as if I were expecting an answer. Right.

Much to our relief, nobody was there – we checked every room and closet, along with the garage and outside. All we found was that the gate into the back yard was standing open – but the wind had occasionally been doing that by itself.

We went back to bed, prayed a prayer of thanks to God, and went back to sleep.

We were not unaffected, however. A couple of nights later my wife had a dream that someone was breaking into our house. We bought a much-needed new front door – with a dead-bolt lock. I fixed the latch on the back yard gate.

Why? Because not everyone is welcome in our home. Nor should they be. Most especially, thieves and burglars aren’t welcome.

The fast is, there are locks on the doors of our houses for a reason.

Unfortunately, many, if not most, Americans have taken the locks off the doors of our minds.

When it comes to what we think and believe, we have learned to let almost anything in. Our society has developed a tragic open-door policy about thoughts and values, ideas and images. Spiritual burglars are prowling the conceptual streets of our culture, and we seem willing to let any of them in who knock.

We have been sold a bill of goods by the devil. We have been led to suppose that any thought which happens along is worthy to be welcomed into our hearts and minds. Satan’s servants rattle the doorknobs of our imaginations, and find easy entry.

The tragedy of open hearts and open minds is evidenced by out of control consumer debt, driven by a “see it, want it, buy it” approach to living. The burgeoning pornography industry takes advantage of our unlocked mental gates by breaking into many of our TV’s and computers, along with many of our hearts and minds.

Open-mindedness is obviously not all it’s cracked up to be.

We who are Christians face the challenge to control our imaginative processes, to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We need to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2). We are charged, “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable . . . think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

It’s time to close your mind to the evils around you. Get a dead-bolt lock for your heart. Install a security system for your imagination. Don’t let unwelcome thoughts or unwholesome imaginations break in.

It’s your mind. Protect it.

BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

It was one of “those” calls we pastors occasionally receive. A loved one with a ravaging disease was in terminal condition, in the final painful phase of life. Would I put him on the prayer list at Church? Maybe even go see him?

As usual, I prayed with the caller on the phone, then prayed again when the call was over. Instantly I sensed an insistence, a burden. “Go see him right away,” God seemed to say.

So it was that I was soon driving out into the countryside, searching for a home I had never seen before on a road I had rarely driven.

I found the house, was welcomed inside, and went immediately to the man’s bedside. One look said it all – he didn’t have long. With a conviction borne of the urgency of the situation, I jumped right in. “It looks like you don’t have long to live. Is that right?”

So weak he was almost unable to speak, he whispered, “That’s right.”

“It’s a pretty tough road you’re on, isn’t it? Do you know where you’re headed?”

A shrug indicated that he wasn’t sure what I meant. I explained, “The road you’re on right now is a rough one, but it’s going to end soon. The important thing is whether that road’s going to end in heaven or hell. Do you know which?”

“I’m not sure,” he whispered.

“Would you like to be sure?” I asked.

With tears in his eyes, he nodded his head.

A gentle twenty-minute conversation followed in which we revisited the basic truths of the Good News. God is holy. People are sinful. Our sin separates us from God. But Christ is sufficient to take our sin. His life fulfilled God’s righteous requirements. His death paid sin’s penalty. His resurrection broke sin’s power. To have eternal life, we only need to admit we’re sinners in need of a Savior, trust Jesus for our salvation and give Him our lives. Then we are born again and receive eternal life, and enjoy heaven after we die.

“Would you like to admit your need for salvation and put your trust in Jesus?” I asked.

And he said yes.

So with gasping breath and whispered words, he confessed his need for a Savior, placed his trust in Jesus and welcomed Him into his heart.

Less than three days later, his shallow breathing ceased, and he entered eternity with Jesus as his Savior – just in time, before it was eternally too late.

I’ve had the privilege of being in many such Gospel encounters with people near death. Through such experiences, I think God is issuing a reminder that all of us – not just pastors – are surrounded by the dying. Whether their deaths are coming in three days or thirty years, their time is limited.

Indeed, everybody we meet is in terminal condition. With a conviction borne of the urgency of their situation, we must tell them the Good News about what Jesus has done for them and will do in them. Somebody has to tell them, before it’s too late.

AFTER EASTER, THEN WHAT

I know it's been a while; but the craziness of preparing for a very early Easter has now passed, and here's my latest article, from the Sterling, Colorado Journal Advocate.

Last Sunday, all around the world, Christians gathered in the largest Sunday services of the year to proclaim to one another the ancient truth, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” The singing was wonderful, the preaching typically at its best, and the fellowship especially warm. It was a great day.

And now, in the weeks that follow, the typical pastors of average churches will stand in their pulpits and look out and wonder once again, “Where did the crowds go?” Of course, the issue far transcends numerical considerations. It serves as a living parable of the condition of American Christianity, in which so many people tend to show up when there’s a show, but disappear when it comes to discipleship.

Not long ago, well-known pastor Bill Hybels, whose 20,000 member Willow Creek Church in suburban Chicago has set the standard for “seeker-sensitive church” since the early 1980’s, admitted that though his church has attracted a lot of people to its services, not many of them have actually been living a life of Biblical discipleship. For two-and-a-half decades, this huge and apparently successful church has aimed most of its efforts at getting people to participate in programs, in hope that their participation would make them better followers of Christ. They counted and carefully recorded the number of people involved in their programs, and hoped that the more participants they had, the more disciples they were making.

They’ve discovered it hasn’t worked. In a talk at last summer’s Willow Creek Leadership Conference, Hybels admitted, “We made a mistake. We should have . . . taught people how to read their bibles between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

In other words, participation in programs does not necessarily produce Biblical disciples, people committed to following Christ rigorously in their daily lives. What makes Biblical disciples are the age-old “spiritual practices” Hybels mentioned: personal Bible study, vigorous personal prayer, accountable relationships and the pursuit of holy living by the constant infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The fact is that much of the American church seems to have forgotten what Jesus commanded us to pursue as our primary business. He never told us to draw a crowd, make converts, produce participants, or acquire attenders. He told us to make disciples. A key step in growing from a baby Christian into a maturing disciple is teaching that person to become “self-feeding.” That means the church must train its people to study Scripture daily with a view to obeying it, to have a vital personal prayer life, and to take responsibility for being in accountable relationships with fellow followers so that they can support and encourage one another.

So, now that it’s after Easter (or in the season of Easter, according to the church calendar), what now? I say it’s time to get serious about the business we’re called by Christ to pursue. Forget the crowds for now – they’ll be back at Christmas – and turn our energies to doing everything we can in the power of the Holy Spirit to make disciples.

Two Very Well-Known Hymns You've Never Sung

Written by Bishop Thomas Ken in the mid 1670's, these two hymns, one to be sung in the morning upon rising, one before retiring at night, are perhaps the most well-known English-language songs in Protestant worship. Really? Yea, but not the entire songs. Sadly, only the last verse of each is ever sung, and it's the same verse in both songs. Before you read the common last verse, which I've printed below the two hymns, can you figure it out?

MORNING HYMN

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Thy precious time misspent, redeem,
Each present day thy last esteem,
Improve thy talent with due care;
For the great day thyself prepare.

By influence of the Light divine
Let thy own light to others shine.
Reflect all Heaven’s propitious ways
In ardent love, and cheerful praise.

In conversation be sincere;
Keep conscience as the noontide clear;
Think how all seeing God thy ways
And all thy secret thoughts surveys.

Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart,
And with the angels bear thy part,
Who all night long unwearied sing
High praise to the eternal King.

All praise to Thee, who safe has kept
And hast refreshed me while I slept
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake
I may of endless light partake.

Heav’n is, dear Lord, where’er Thou art,
O never then from me depart;
For to my soul ’tis hell to be
But for one moment void of Thee.

Lord, I my vows to Thee renew;
Disperse my sins as morning dew.
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with Thyself my spirit fill.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say,
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

I would not wake nor rise again
And Heaven itself I would disdain,
Wert Thou not there to be enjoyed,
And I in hymns to be employed.

EVENING HYMN

All praise to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the judgment day.

O may my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.

When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.

O when shall I, in endless day,
For ever chase dark sleep away,
And hymns divine with angels sing,
All praise to thee, eternal King?

Okay, now here's the last verse of both songs:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him, all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Surprise!

"LEAP-DAY" PONDERINGS

Today, February 29, comes to us only once every four years, during "Leap Year." So, I guess that would mean today is "Leap Day." That odd notion got me to thinking about the way the spring-time calendar works. My curiosity grew as I looked at the date for Easter Sunday, which varies from year to year by up to 35 days. That’s because Easter is related to Passover, and the date of Passover is a function of a lunar calendar used in Jerusalem for about 3,200 years.

Sounds complicated? We’re only getting started!

In the Fourth Century, in an attempt to actually reduce the confusion and establish a uniform date for this most important of the church’s celebrations, Easter was officially set as the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that falls on or after the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring. (“Ecclesiastical full moon” is a technical term that would take a couple of pages to explain, so I’ll let you look that one up yourself.) Using this formula, Easter can be anywhere from March 22 to April 25.

This year, as you know, Easter is fast approaching, on March 23. As mentioned, it can be one day earlier, on March 22, but that happens so rarely that nobody who is alive now has ever seen or ever will see it on that date. The last time Easter was March 22 was 190 years ago, in 1818; and the next time will be in 277 years, or 2285.

In addition, only the oldest Christians among us have ever celebrated Easter as early as it will be this year. The last time Easter was on March 23 was in 1913.

As curiously interesting as all this information may be (to geeks like me, anyway), the real point of Easter is not so much when we celebrate it as why. And that is a point that many people seem to miss.

When Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, the disciples that comprised the infant church we almost all Jewish. All their lives they had worshiped God on the Sabbath, which begins at sun-down on Friday and ends at sun-down on Saturday. However, within months after His resurrection, Jesus’ followers switched the day of worship to Sunday, the first day of the week, the day He rose from the grave.

Why?

Because they knew that every gathering of Christians for worship is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul put it this way: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). His perfect life fulfilled God’s law and is reckoned to believers as our righteousness. His sacrificial death atoned for our sins. But it was His resurrection from the dead that verified His authority to act on the Father’s behalf as our substitute.

As you plan to attend Easter services, focus on the center of the celebration. It’s all about Jesus: His life, His death and His resurrection. Do you know it? Do you believe it?

HOW TO GET RID OF YOUR PASTOR

I actually wrote most of this PIECE a couple of years ago, and then I discovered that a church in the area actually was in the process of attempting what I describe in the first paragraph below. I decided that the timing might not be the best to publish this in the local newspaper, so I put it on hold. Now, with no local churches working at ousting their leader -- to my knowledge at least -- I've pulled this piece our of mothballs. Since it was in the paper a week ago, a lot of people have commented to me how much they enjoyed it. Hope you do too!

Some time back, I heard about a church that had been trying to “get rid” of their pastor. Sadly, this is something that happens a lot in the American church scene. We get unhappy with the pastor or with something the church is doing; and then, instead of doing the biblical thing and prayerfully seeking to work out the differences, we choose up sides. Then, if there are enough votes to dismiss or to make things uncomfortable, out the pastor goes.

It’s tragic, not only because of what it does to that pastor, but because of the broken relationships left behind and the slow-healing wounds caused when the congregation took sides, sides that often remain long after the pastor departs. Frankly, there are simpler ways. If you ever want to get rid of your pastor, instead of looking for votes, try one of these five ideas.

Idea #1 During the Sunday morning message, listen closely and take notes. Look your pastor straight in the eye, and occasionally nod your head and say, "Amen!" Begin to make serious efforts to apply the life lessons you learn from the sermons. In six months, he'll preach himself to death.

Idea #2 Pat your pastor on the back and brag on his good points two or three times a month. Make a bunch of phone calls to your friends and neighbors and tell them all the good things about your pastor. In a little while, so many more people will start coming to your church, you’ll have to hire an associate pastor, and your senior pastor will be free to leave.

Idea #3 Next Sunday, in response to the sermon, go forward to the altar and rededicate your life to Christ. Then make an appointment with the pastor sometime next week. Ask him to give you some job you could do for the church, preferably some lost people you could go visit with a view to winning them to Christ. He'll likely die of heart failure on the spot.

Idea #4 Organize a ministry to call on the shut-ins and elderly members of the church, and encourage the pastor to devote more of his time to prayer and the study of God’s Word. Tell him you’ll take care of the widows if he’ll take care of the preaching. He’ll think the whole congregation has gone completely crazy and start looking for another church immediately.

Idea #5 Get a whole bunch of the church members to unite in earnest intercessory prayer for the pastor, his ministry and his family. Organize prayer meetings in which you pray for the growth of the church and blessing of the pastor. The pastor may become so effective in ministry that some larger church will take him off your hands.

One note of caution, however: if you try one of these methods, you may find that you don’t want to get rid of your pastor after all.

Puritan Prayers

Lately in my daily devotions I’ve been reading “The Valley of Vision,” a book of Puritan prayers given to me for Christmas by my daughter Laura, whose terrific blog is referenced in the list to the right. Edited by Arthur Bennett, former Canon of St. Albans Cathedral in England, the book was published in 1975 by Banner of Truth Trust. The edition I have is the seventh printing, which came out in 2007.

This beautiful compendium of written prayers comes from such Puritan greats as Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Isaac Watts and David Brainerd, to name a few. Unaccustomed as I am to reading prayers, I first thought that this book might seem a bit dry to me. Nothing could be further from the truth. Though the language may seem a bit archaic to modern ears, I find myself moved almost daily to tears as I read and then personally pray these heartfelt words.

There is something about the studied and overtly Word-driven piety of these prayers (and there are over 200 of them in the book!) that both shows me how far I have to go in my walk with Christ and motivates me to keep growing. The Christ-centered focus and the intentional remembering of His finished work are both moving and inspiring. Consumed with the glory of the Father, Christ lived and offered for rebel humanity a perfect life and sacrificial death, and His atoning work is both pictured and praised in these prayers.

Here is just one example. I trust it will bless you.

My Father,

In a world of created changeable things,

Christ and His Word alone remain unshaken.

O to forsake all creatures,

to rest as a stone on Him the foundation,

to abide in Him, be borne up by Him!

For all my mercies come through Christ,

Who has designed, purchased, promised and effected them.

How sweet it is to be near Him, the Lamb,

filled with holy affections!

When I sin against Thee I cross Thy will, love, life,

and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.

My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,

but my continual separation, disunion, distance from Thee,

and having a loose spirit towards Thee.

But thou hast given me a present, Jesus Thy Son,

as Mediator between Thyself and my soul,

as Middle-man Who in a pit hold both him below and Him above;

for only He can span the chasm breached by sin,

and satisfy divine justice.

May I always lay hold upon this Mediator,

as a realized object of faith,

and alone worthy by His love to bridge the gulf.

Let me know that He is dear to me by His Word;

I am one with Him by the Word on His part,

and by faith on mine.

If I oppose the Word, I oppose my Lord

when He is most near.

If I receive the Word, I receive my Lord

wherein He is nigh.

O Thou Who hast the hearts of all men in Thine hand,

form my heart according to the Word,

according to the image of Thy Son.

So shall Christ the Word, and His Word,

be my strength and comfort.

Amen!

ONLY FOR HIS GLORY! ONLY BY HIS POWER!

What an amazing God we serve! He can do wonders with average people. He can perform miracles using folks like you and me. He can change the unchangeable, save the unworthy, deliver the bound and make everything new. He is astonishing in His mercy, boundless in His kindness, all-consuming in His holiness, and unexplainable in His grace.

And — most amazing perhaps of all His attributes — He yearns with unbridled passion to be known and loved by you! Doesn’t it move you to wonder and worship that He Whom the universe cannot contain loves to reside in your heart?! Glory!

Yet how we limit the display of His glory by our habitual returning to our own resources, recalling past failures and rehearsing future fears! No sooner does He kindle in us a desire to experience His great promises than we recoil from the prospect of stepping beyond our comfort, and turn from His glory to our folly by reminding ourselves how small and weak we are, how poor and inexperienced, how frail and untrained.

Brothers and sisters, God never offers you anything you can receive without His grace. He never asks you to do anything you can do without utterly depending on His presence and power. “Faithful is He Who calls, and HE will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Note that He will do it, when we venture out upon His faithfulness. But if we rely only on our own resources, we will never experience the miracle of His faithfulness.

In so many areas of our lives, we quench His move by fixing our eyes on ourselves rather than on Jesus. For example, God may call us to do something that, humanly speaking, is completely beyond our abilities, something like adding onto our church building. In the face of such an undertaking, we know enough to ask God, “Lord, show us whether we should do this or not.” But then, having prayed, where does human nature often look for the answer? Do we look to ourselves? Let’s hope not! Do we check our bank account, or our previous experience? Do we look to the economy, or to others in the church, to find clues about the will of God? Sadly, in all of these sources there is only more of ourselves. How vain it is to ask God for guidance, then look to ourselves to find it!

If in anything we are to find the guidance of God, we must take up His Word, discover the principles by which He rules His kingdom, and then apply them rigorously to our situation. What does God’s Word say about the needs of the lost in our community; and how are we to reach them? What principles are in His Word about making disciples and bringing the little children to Him? What does He say about ownership and stewardship, and matters of tithe and time and talents?

It is these Kingdom principles from His Word that should guide our decisions, as determined by Who HE is and what HE can do, not by who we are and what we can do. Then as HE directs, faith says, “I delight to do Your will, my God” (Psalm 40:8); and “not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

Let us never be found guilty of doing for God’s glory only that which we can do in our own power. May He give us grace to lean entirely upon His provision for the fulfillment of His promises! He is truly a mighty God! Let us do only for His glory what can be done only in His power!

HE DIDN'T LIKE MY DOCTRINE

I had a very interesting encounter after the second worship service here at First Baptist Church last Sunday. A personable young man I have known for some time, who was a guest of some of his friends in worship, approached me with a serious look on his face. He shook my hand and told me how much he had enjoyed the service, and that he always loved it when he got to worship with the folks at First Baptist.

Then he said, “And you know, I agree with almost all of the doctrines you teach here. All except one doctrine.” Here he paused, and I immediately began to wonder what I had said that would make him raise a doctrinal issue in the lobby after worship.

“What doctrine is that?” I asked, a bit anxiously.

With apparent earnestness he said, “Well, Pastor, I hate to say it, but it’s your doctrine of snow. I just can’t agree with your position.” Then he broke into a smile and we both had a good laugh as he explained his mock concern.

He pointed out that during prayer time, I had voiced our gratitude to God for the wonderful moisture we have received over the last few weeks, but went on to ask God if He might arrange for the temperature to be warmer the next time we get some precipitation. You see, I’m not personally all that crazy about snow. And yet, I know it’s a wonderful blessing to have the wheat lay for weeks on end under a moist blanket of the white stuff, which is just what we’ve experienced for the last several weeks. As a result, as my people know, I struggle with how to pray for precipitation in the winter. I recall mentioning in my prayer that we were giving “reluctant though heart-felt thanks” to God.

This young man said that he, by contrast, loves snow, everything about it, and wishes it would snow more often. And so, with what turned out to be simulated seriousness, he indicated he could never sit under my teaching or be a part of any church whose “doctrine of snow” was so out of line with his. Hilarious. Simply hilarious. I continue to chuckle as I think about our conversation!

And yet, there’s a serious side to this young man’s remark. Every pastor in town knows that some people leave churches over matters no more consequential than a “doctrine of snow.” Concerns such as the color a room gets painted or who gets to pass the offering plates on Sunday morning have actually split churches. The “doctrine of snow” is a genuine heavyweight by contrast!

The challenge for each of us is to do a well-prayed-through inventory of what really matters in a church. If you go to the Word of God, and see what it says, you may be surprised at the brevity of the list of truths that define a biblical church.